


Writing Prompt Menagerie

by JadeDraggy2017



Category: Persona 2, Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona 5, Persona Series, Persona | Revelations Persona
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Crack, Dream Sharing, F/M, Hallucinations, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Implications of suicide, Implied Character Death, M/M, Mentions of Suicide, Multiple Pairings, Multiple ships, POV Multiple, Persona 5 Spoilers, Various One Shots, gender swapped characters, ghost - Freeform, no beta we die like men, persona 2 spoilers, pinning, writing prompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-07-14 22:17:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 11,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16049684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadeDraggy2017/pseuds/JadeDraggy2017
Summary: A series of one shot writing prompts/concept ideas received on tumblr.Every chapter is a different prompt. Summaries before each chapter.





	1. Akechi Goes to Walmart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Original Ask: "Hmm...akechi goes to walmart"
> 
> Answer: I’d write a story in which Ann drags some of the PT into a Walmart and every chance she gets trolls Akechi. Out of friendship. Maybe

  
  
**Akechi Goes to Walmart!**  
  
  
  
  
He’d been standing looking at the shirt in the men’s section for probably a good ten minutes now. His English wasn’t horrible, but he wasn’t sure he understood the context of shirt.  
  
Takamaki was around here… Somewhere?  
  
She’s the one that dragged them all here, insisting she needed to stop by ‘American Junes’ before they head back to the airport.  
  
“Akechi!” Finally, the blonde made an appearance. “Akira said you had a question for me!”  
  
“Yes, Takamaki-san,” he pulled the shirt off the rack and showed it to her. “Can you explain the context of this.  
  
“Oh,” the girls lips twitched into a grin before she pressed them together. “Uh, well, actually!” She smiled and snapped both her thumbs, “You know in English ‘Dick’ is often used as a synonym for ‘Detective’.”  
  
“Really?”  
  
“Yes!” She nodded. “You should totally buy that, infact-” Ann pushed him aside and dug through the shirts. “Found your size! Here!” She shoved the shirt at him with a nod before talking off to return to her own shopping task.  
  
Goro looked down at the shirt and smiled. Around the corner he just barely heard Akira screaming ‘ANN NO!’.


	2. (Forget) Remember Me Not

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Original Ask: "fic title meme: (Forget) Remember Me Not"
> 
> Answer: Omg something not Persona 5. Uh, this would earn a Persona 2 fic. When EP doesn’t happen, but Tatsuya still remembers. Cause I’m a fucking bastard. And I despite knowing that he deserves a hug, I won’t let anyone be happy. Ever.

 

 

**(Forget) Remember Me Not**  
  
  
“Do I know you?” He was standing in front of the bridal shop across from the Parabellum bar. It was a terrible place for a bridal store really, right across from all the drunks. He’d been staring at the dress in the window, they change once a month.  
  
He wasn’t sure why he wanted to look at them. But there was something dreamy about the experience.  
  
Not like a dream he wanted to have, but that he had already. It was like déjà vu. As if he’d done this before, years and years ago. Standing in front of the shop, looking at his blue uniform and his side swept bangs, and holding his lighter in his hands.  
  
But he’s not supposed to have the lighter… He’s supposed to have something else?  
  
And lately if he stands he long enough another figure appears across the street.  
  
He’s standing in a red bike suit. A black ‘X’ across his chest. As if silently answering his question with a ‘No’. A giant ‘No’, ‘Never’, ‘Do not interact’ painted across his chest. But painted across his face is the same sense of déjà vu, with a hint of pain and a clearer understanding of why he’s standing in front of the bridal shop.  
  
They’ll both stand there for a while. Sometimes it’s just ten minutes, sometimes it’s a whole hour.  
  
At some point Jun stops looking at the dresses and only looks at the boy in the black X standing across the street, suffering alone and ask his reflection:  
  
“Do I know you?”


	3. Red was the Color of Their Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Original Ask: "Red Was the Color of Their Dreams" (edginess 99 lvl I'm not ashamed lKsdjfg; persona 5 pls)"
> 
> Answer: AU where Akira and Goro meet years before via dream sharing. How does that change things? I dunno. Probably Goro still dies cause look at my body of work. LOOK AT IT. WHAT IS A HAPPY ENDING???

**Red Was the Color of Their Dreams**

 

  
  
Red puddles, red rain, red hands and red stains.  
  
At night the world was painted red by the storm that came in his sleep. At first it was one dream, then it was several. Soon he accepted it as fact. That the red storm crossed all his dreams; it was as constant as sleep itself.  
  
And with it came the other little boy. Brown hair, red eyed, his shoes caked in red mud, and face littered with bruises.

  
Despite his frightening appearance he was friendly and energetic. He also suffered the red storm in his dreams. And now when they slept, they’d find each other wandering around each other’s mind space. Their dreams clashing up against each other, a clear divide where light met dark- the brunet often had nightmares, but across both their dreams there was the red rain.  
  
“What do you think it means,” Goro reached his hand out into the falling water. “It’s been going on for years now.”  
  
“Maybe it means the world is flooding,” Akira held an umbrella for the two of them as they walked through a lonely rain-soaked city. Walking through one of Goro’s nightmares.  
  
“I just feel like it’s… Bad.”  
  
“You think everything is bad, Goro!” Akira gently nudged him, and he stumbled out into the rain. Goro turned around and kicked a red puddle at him.  
  
“And you don’t think at all! Because you’re just a child, Akira!”  
  
Akira used the umbrella to block half the rainwater splashed at him. “Not anymore! Next year I start high school!” He put a hand on his hips and stood confidently. “Mom and Pop said that makes me an ‘adult’. And that now they’ll expect me to be more responsible!” He raised the umbrella up high as if showing off.  
  
Goro laughed at him, “You’ll mess it up. High School is hard.”  
  
He took his place back under the umbrella.  
  
“It’s only hard because you try too hard,” Akira resumed walking.  
  
“Maybe so…Hey!” Goro pointed down a street, leading to a large square in his nightmare city. “Down this way, to Shibuya. That’s where I saw it. The strange horned shadow. Let’s see if it came back.”  
  
Goro took his hand pulled him running, hoping to reach their destination before either woke up. Tomorrow was school, and he wanted to show Akira the weird monster that came to him and called itself Loki.


	4. It Took 16 Days and a Hankerchief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Original Ask: "fic title meme: "it took 16 days and a handkerchief""
> 
> Answer: New game plus roll swap AU where only Ren remembers? Yeah. Yeah that’s what you get. If you want joy you guys gotta send me one that is impossible to angst up. Like the Walmart one. Hmn I feel like these are getting longer…

**It took 16 days and a Handkerchief  
  
  
**  
Leblanc was as quiet as usual.

Outside there was a light drizzle. The old couple that came in and hung around for hours over just one cup of house blend had left. And the boy that would come in late in the afternoon to watch the quiet streets of Yongen-Jaya was the last customer sitting in the café.  
  
Sojiro had gone out to get some supplies for tomorrow’s curry, and more than likely was stopped under an awning somewhere having a smoke.  
  
That made it just the two of them. Behind the counter he grabbed a little chalk board. He used a little nub of white chalk to mark off the number of days the other teenager sat in silence, at the counter just looking out window, sipping his coffee. He barely spoke beyond a hello, or a good bye. He didn’t know his name; though he’d offered up own his last name. He had to, so customers would know how to address him. But the other boy only said it just to place his order or bid him farewell.  
  
He dragged the chalk down, marking a single line after three groups of five. This was day sixteen.  
  
In his pocket his phone buzzed.  
  
It was Futaba; more than likely prodding him to break the ice and stop staring with melancholic longing. It’s not like he hadn’t tried small talk. The weather, school, friends, jobs, even the Featherman show on TV on Sundays. Nothing.  
  
He never says a word.  
  
His phone buzzed again and this time from below the counter the sound of a boyish voice with hint of purr grumbled at him.  
  
“Just respond to her.”  
  
“Shhh, Morgana, you’re not even supposed to be down there.” He put his fingers to his lips and shushed the cat. When he looked back up the other boy was looking at him.  
  
Red eyes meeting grey. He chuckled.  
  
“Sorry, uh, my cat gets lonely upstairs.” He shrugged.  
  
The other boy didn’t do more than nod and turn back to the window to watch the rain.  
  
His phone buzzed again, but this time for more than a text. It was a call. Sojiro telling him get ready to open the door because he was going to jog it, his arms full of groceries. Quickly he ducked around the counter and waited for the café owner to come sprinting down the little side street. He swung open the door to let him in, listing to the man sigh.  
  
“Still dropped one! Right next to the plant, can you get it, kid?”  
  
“Sure!” He ducked out into the rain and grabbed the fallen bag. It wasn’t raw ingredients, but a bunch of packs of instant noodles. Obviously for Futaba. As he came back inside the other boy was standing up now, getting ready to leave for the day.  
  
“Ah-” a noise came form his lips. He still hadn’t managed to get him to talk. “Ah!” He opened his mouth wider now and both Sojiro and the customer were staring at him confused until he let out a sudden horrible sneeze.  
  
There was a pause, followed by a muttered apology on his part.  
  
The other teenager reached into his finely pressed jacket and pulled out a handkerchief. “Here.”  
  
“Oh, um thank you!” He took it a bit embarrassed. How bad was that sneeze that this guy thought he needed to wipe his face? He set down the bag and turned away to clean up. When he pulled back he looked down and saw an ‘A’ embroidered on the corner.  
  
“A?” He turned back to the guest, who now had his hand on the door. “What’s it stand for?”  
  
“Anarchy.” He answered with such a straight face. Was that a joke? When the other finally let out an awkward laugh to clear up the silence he joined in with a chuckle. “It stands for Amamiya. I was just having a bit of fun with you.”  
  
“Oh… Oh! Amamiya, you’re the teenage detective on TV?”  
  
“That’s correct, Akechi-kun. Ah,” Amamiya reached up to twist his bangs between his red gloved fingers. “I do hope that now that that cat’s out of the bag, it won’t be a problem. I like it here, its quiet. And no one bothers me while I think.”  
  
“No, no,” Akechi shook his head, “I just didn’t recognize you. I’m sorry. You’re free to think here in peace.”  
  
“Thank you,” Amamiya smiled at him awkwardly, almost heart broken, “And I’m not offended. In a way, it’s refreshing to meet someone who doesn’t know me.”  
  
With that Amamiya left, stepping out into the fading rain, the droplets managing to leave darker spots on his black petticoat. He looked back at Akechi in the shop for a moment, before heading down the street to the train station.  
  
Akechi looked down at the handkerchief.  
  
“Amamiya…huh?”  
  
It took him sixteen days to learn that name. And now that he heard it something inside him churned with worry…


	5. As the Sun Rises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Original Prompt: non-fandom specific, soulmate AU where when the sun’s first rays illuminate you, they make your skin glow where your soulmate last touched you. 
> 
> Answer: This isn’t even my ask, but I’m stealing it from i-w-p-chan.

**As the Sun Rises  
  
**  
  
Every inch of skin glows.  
  
And its blinding for him to look at.  
  
It’s where Ryuji hi-fived his hand.  
  
Where Ann embraced him in a hug.  
  
Where Morgana sleeps on his chest.  
  
Every inch where Yusuke has grabbed him and twisted him into a pose.  
  
Against his back where Futaba likes to hide.  
  
Wrapped around his leg, where Makoto cowers whenever it’s too dark.  
  
And against his cheek where Haru leaves kisses and her eye lashes flutter against his skin.  
  
But on his shoulder there is void. And empty hole. A stolen light. A darkness the sun doesn’t illuminate.  
  
A black hole that’s coming for his life.  
  
And maybe that’s why when the sun rises he doesn’t think of his team.  
  
He doesn’t think of the love that radiates off his skin. And the sea of people what made him into this light.  
  
But he thinks of the trickster. He imagines his face.  
  
Goro Akechi.

And Ren sees the light coming off the darkness where he last touched the one coming for his life.


	6. Three Words, Eight Letters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Original Ask: "For the fic title thing: Three words, eight letters"
> 
> Answer: A character study of Goro’s habitual lying. What’s the truth? Does he even want to know it? Yeah Walmart one is still the only ‘happy’ one of these…

**Three Words, Eight Letters  
  
**  
  
Everything from his lips is just a lie.  
  
It’s hard to remember sometimes. He’s so convincing.  
  
The way he smiles and laughs, are just an act to smother out the sounds of his tears.  
  
The compliments and admiration he pays to his new friends are just flowers planted over the stinking piles jealous rage and contempt he feels.  
  
The staunch speeches of defending the public from criminals and calls for justice to be served are just smoke and mirrors to distract from his own bloody hands and corrupt morals.  
  
The angry shouting and bitter disgust are replacements for fear and loathsome worry.  
  
The constant proclamation that he hates the Phantom Thieves, that he hates Joker are far from the truth.  
  
But he’ll never stop saying it.  
  
He hates them. He hates Joker. He hates him with all his heart.  
  
But Joker knows him too well, and he knows it too. The truth has never come from this mouth of his.  
  
Akechi Goro hates Joker.  
  
It’s just a lie.  
  
 _Just a lie._  
  
  



	7. I accept your sins (like you did mine) before the sunset, and the next morning the future rises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Original Ask: "fake title again, p5: "i accept your sins (like you did mine) before the sunset, and the next morning the future rises""
> 
> Answer: I’d probably write an exploration of Shido post change of heart and per-confession. What kind of things would a guilt ridden secluded master mind experience? Will he ever forgive himself? Maybe his ghost will forgive him… Probably not what you were expecting!

**I accept your sins (like you did mine) before the sunset, and the next morning the future rises  
  
**  
  
He never would have thought this is what guilty men feel.  
  
Sadness, regret, confusion, and anger. So much anger at himself. How had he let all of this get so out of hand? How had his ambitions become such a twisted web of lies, deceit, and death.  
  
So much death.  
  
So much death he was trying to drink himself to that point now.  
  
His ‘colleagues’, his subordinates, the vipers that he surrounded himself with had secluded him to his apartment. They wanted him away from the public eye. Telling everyone he was sick but would be fine by the night of the election.  
  
The election? Who cares… Who cares about it? Who cares about any of it.  
  
Is this what all guilty men go through?  
  
Stumbling around his apartment trying not to think about the bodies that were stacked to make the staircase he now stood atop of he came across his phone. Something compelled him to pick it up and start dialing.  
  
Not a number programed into his phone, one his vaguely remembered from years and years ago…  
  
At first it connected to nothing. So, he tried again. This time it rang and rang, but there was no voice mail. So finally, he tried a third time.  
  
 _“Hello…?”_ A woman’s voice answered. But he didn’t say anything.  
  
“…Masayoshi, is that you…?” She sounded far off, almost like she was talking over the loudspeaker, but it was muffled and far from here.  
  
Far from him.  
  
 _“…Do you want to talk… I’m listening.”_  
  
“…I just called to tell you, I was sorry.”  
  
There was a long pause.  
  
“We could have been a good family. I think… In another world…”  
  
She laughs for a moment. _“I was never a good mother you know… But maybe we can try again.”_  
  
“…Would you like to?”  
  
 _“…Call me tomorrow.”_  
  
The line went dead, and he pulled the phone back. It showed no call was made. Just another disconnected number.  
  
But he’d call it again tomorrow.  
  
If only out of guilt.


	8. Sorry, but We Will Never Die

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Original Ask: "fic title meme: "sorry, but we will never die""
> 
> Answer: What the duck persona 3???? Yeah persona 3. Something about the title made me think of Elizabeth’s eternal struggle to free Minato. Why is Ryoji there? Um, because why not? You know he just hands around the door. He and the dor are dating, its canon fight me.

**Sorry, but We Will Never Die  
  
**  
  
 _‘How long will you fight in this void?’  
_  
 ** _Thanatos!_**  
  
Megidolan.  
  
Panta Rhei.  
  
Brave Blade.  
  
Ragnarok.  
  
Die for me.  
  
A blinding light. A dismal groan. A useless growl. The oozing corpse of a two headed dog drains apart before her, splashing more black stains on blue velvet shoes and the fringe of her dress. Beyond the rotting dog there waits the door.  
  
She sighs with a Victory Cry enabling her next few steps before he appears.  
  
Always two steps ahead of her.  
  
Back to her, he can’t be bothered to stare at anything other than his beloved. The color yellow fluttering carelessly around his neck is an illusion. There is no color in the void of death.  
  
 _‘How long will you fight in this void?’_  
  
“I will never leave.” She says it so simply.  
  
 _‘I didn’t ask for this. We didn’t ask for this. They called for it.’_  
  
Back to her still he takes a step forward and in his wake the darkness comes rushing out from the corners. The sounds of humans crying for better selves, people running form other worlds, turning their eyes form the truth, demanding someone take control of their lives, come crashing up through the void to knock on the that door.  
  
 _‘So long as they ask for it…’  
_  
For a moment as the one who will knock takes its shape she sees right through it, the door on the other side seems different. The figure’s a bit fairer, their hair all pinned back, their lashes longer, their body more curved… And then the dog is back. Four red eyes and clacking bone teeth held up by the agony of humanity.  
  
 _‘…It will never end. I’m sorry. So long as humanity is this way it will never end.’_  
  
“No it won’t.” She opens her book to the only page that matters. “And neither will humanity.”  
  
 __  



	9. Under the Lights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Original Ask: "Title meme: Under the Lights"
> 
> Answer: …This is just a one shot. I don’t- I didn’t mean to. Uh. Persona 2 EP AU where Jun is deja vu boy. Because fuck everyone I guess. You don’t come to this blog for joy.

**Under the Lights  
  
**  
  
“Here you go!” Eikichi slid two drinks across the table, one to Anna one to Tatsuya. The contents of the glasses gently shook to the base line playing in Club Zodiac.  
  
Their table was only half lit, up against the wall, away from most of the flashing lights, and the annoying disco ball that spun zodiac symbols around at random.  
  
Anna eyed the drink and next to her Noriko laughed. She picked it up, “What did you get us?”  
  
“A shot of ever soda at the bar, extra syrup, with added sugar.”  
  
“EW!” Lisa stuck her tongue out. “What’s wrong with you?”  
  
“Hey, they said ‘challenge us to anything’! Well here you go, bro! Death by sugar!”  
  
Tatsuya hadn’t said anything, he was still eyeing the drink. He turned to Anna who stuck one finger in her drink and then licked it clean with a cringe. “Oh, this is- So sweet!”  
  
“How much ‘extra syrup’ did you put in there, love?” Miyabi turned to her boyfriend.  
  
“It’s half the cup.”  
  
Lisa made a repulsed sound before grabbing Tatsuya’s arm. “Don’t drink that! I don’t want you to get sick before my first big concert!”  
  
“So you’re backing down?” Anna spoke next, and she locked eyes with Tatsuya.  
  
Its not like she wanted to drink this foul concoction either, but the challenge was set. Tatsuya picked up his cup and she grabbed hers. Eikichi grinned clenching his hands into fist as the two tilted their heads back and chugged.  
  
Tatsuya finished first, much to his regret. It took all his will power not to throw up all over his Seven’s uniform.  
  
Anna set her cup down and leaned her head back groaning.  “That was awful!”  
  
“You won, Chinyan!” Lisa hugged him so tight he probably was going throw up. But he still smiled and kept his eyes down to hide how sick he felt. He kept his eyes focused on the watch around his wrist. It was broken, but he still wore it. It was a gift from his father.  
  
“Hey, Noriko, what are you looking at…?” Anna’s question made him lift his gaze.  
  
“That boy over there,” she pointed across the dance floor. A lone boy sat in at a table, wearing a white outfit with a red ‘X’ across his shirt. He was staring at their table for sure. Actually, Tatsuya felt he was staring at him. For a moment the obnoxious disco ball spun its zodiac symbols around and stopped with the Leo light on Tatsuya’s face and the Aquarius symbol across the other boys.  
  
“Oh, I know him…” Eikichi spoke up as he turned to see who they were looking at. “That’s Kurosu. He goes to Cuss High.”  
  
“You know him?” Miyabi asked.  
  
“I’m the boss! I have to know everyone… I heard him playing piano in the music room once. Asked him to join Gas Chamber, but he declined. He’s always alone…” He turned back around. “His mom’s that famous actress you know? Plus, he’s good looking. I thought he’d make a great addition!”  
  
“The actress? Junko? Her husband teaches at Sevens, right, Tatsuya?” Anna turned to him, calling for attention. He had to break eye contact with the other boy.  
  
“Yeah, Kashihara-sensi. I remember him mentioning a son…” Tatsuya turned back to where the lone teenager was sitting, only to see him get up and start for the door.  
  
Tatsuya stood, and Lisa reached out to hold his arm, “Where are you going?”  
  
“To invite him over,” Tatsuya pulled away from the table and Eikichi called to him, saying it wouldn’t work.  
  
He followed Jun cutting him off right under the disco ball.  
  
“Hey,” Tatsuya paused. He was so sure a second ago that he needed to do this. “…Come sit with us.”  
  
“Sorry, I-” Jun shook his head. “I can’t.” He ducked around Tatsuya.  
  
The other teenager, as if stricken by some instinct turned around and grabbed him by his right arm, just around his wrist. He didn’t want him to go. He needed him to stay. The disco ball started turning again, this time spinning its symbols backwards. In his chest he felt a spark, not electric, but like a fire. Something warm…  
  
The watch on Tatsuya’s wrist started ticking, the noise drowned out by the base of the club.  
  
“You can’t…. Or you won’t?”  
  
Jun kept his head turned away, he shook his head. “I won’t.”  
  
“Why-?” Tatsuya moved to pull him closer, only to catch sight of his wrist. There was… Some strange black mark, crawling up his arm.  
  
“I won’t!” Jun said again, this time more forcefully and pulled his arm away. Still not looking at Tatsuya he sighed and tilted his head back. “Good bye.”  
  
He walked away in a hurry. Tatsuya watched his back as he fled. He looked down at his wrist wondering what he saw, only to realize that his watch was working. It was ticking away, in time with Jun’s steps and stopped the moment he was out the door.  
  
Tatsuya looked back up, ignoring the stares of his friends at the table, and the other kids dancing around him.  
  
Over head the lights of the disco ball turned. And another side of him yearned.


	10. Scars of the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Original Ask: "Title: Scars of the Past"
> 
> Answer: I originally did not plan to make this about the P1 cast. But I mulled on this prompt for a while. And you know what it eventually settled on Reiji and FULLY BLAME YOU CAUSE YOU ALWAYS TALK ABOUT HIM. So, I dunno. Reiji pre-Persona 2 bumping into old classmates around Sumaru City. Why Maki here? WHY NOT MAKI?

**Scars of the Past  
  
**  
  
Its far too late to be out on the street with no destination and no plan. But he wasn’t going home with his meeting his quota today.  
  
After all it wasn’t just himself he was looking after any more.  
  
But he’d walked around this apartment complex now several times, knocking on doors and being told it was too late to hear a sales pitch. Or glared off the by the angry husbands of intimidated wives. It wasn’t like he was trying to be scary it’s just… who he was.  
  
So another round of knocking at the base floor of the next apartment building was in order. The first few doors didn’t open, the third and fourth he was met with tired and slightly hostile rebuffs.  
  
The fifth, was nothing but noise, as the occupants inside turned their television up the more he knocked.  
  
At the seventh door he knocked and received dead silence again. However just as he turned away to move onto the eight the door opened, just a crack. From the other side he could make out the face of a woman.  
  
“Oh, good evening miss. My name is-”  
  
“…Reiji?” They both paused, and the woman swung the door open so more than just her eye and a sliver of her face was visible.  “It is you!”  
  
“Oh! Maki! This is-” He took a step back and looked at the apartment door as if he should have known it all along. “This is your home.”  
  
She looked down at the suitcase in his hand, “Are you working? Its late. Shouldn’t you be heading home for dinner?”  
  
“Well I- I haven’t made my quota for today, so I’m going to keep at it.”  
  
Maki ran one hand through her hair and looked down at the brief case. “You know I originally wasn’t going to open the door… I felt something, scary. But at the same time, it felt familiar.”  
  
Reiji garbled out a disgusted noise at her words.  
  
“Have you, ah, had much success here?”  
  
“Not really…”  
  
Maki looked him over. He looked tired. And the more tired he was the more she felt that intimidating aura coming off him, not at all kept in check.  
  
“Why don’t you come in for tea? And maybe a light meal?” She sung the door open more, “We can catch up for a bit. And you can tell me what you’re selling.”  
  
“I don’t want a pity sale.” He shook his head at her.  
  
“Who said I’m buying? But, if your pitch is good, I’ll give your card to my coworkers at Hiiragi Therapy?”  
  
Maki continued to hold the door open, waiting for Reiji to come inside.  
  
  
  



	11. It’s the way you walk, the way you talk, the way you make me feel inside

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Original Ask: "Ummmm, if you're still doing the fic title meme (sorry it's a little long): It's the way you walk, the way you talk, the way you make me feel inside"
> 
> Answer: Who wants a Souyo where Yosuke’s still on that hard denial about being gay? Cause that’s what this title makes me think. God first a P1 and now a P4 story. See I can put my destructive tendencies into more than just P5 and P2!

**It’s the way you walk, the way you talk, the way you make me feel inside  
**   
  
  
  
Shadows have long since been a thing of their past. Despite them constantly coming back… They are a thing they know how to handle. They know how to deal with it. With feeling inadequate, feeling out of place, feeling misjudged by others and hiding away from themselves…  
  
So there’s no reason to fear looking at the TV.  
  
There’s no reason to have this phobia.  
  
There’s no reason to make up dumb excuses about why he throws a blanket over the TV at night.  
  
Why he won’t keep one in his room.  
  
Why he dreads looking at his reflection on the blank screens in Junes.  
  
They’re far from Inaba.  They’re far from twisted gods. They’re far from their shadows.  
  
College is supposed to fun. College with Yu is supposed to fun. Study sessions, making new friends, ditching class, picking up chicks.  
  
Not shuddering past every black TV.  
  
Not making sure Yu’s always busy at midnight.  
  
Not constantly being fearful to look at his reflection on a black screen.  
  
Cause he knows out of everything he accepted into his heart he never really accepted Yu the way he should have. The way he could. The way he wants.  
  
So he can’t look at the TV.  
  
He will never every look at the TV and look at the golden reflection smirking back at him.


	12. After Sumaru City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ask: "Mutual pining and the missus and the ex for shuake/akeshu!"
> 
> Answer: Mutual pining/the missus and the ex! So I took a BIG CHEAT on this. Cause the MOMENT I read the mashup my brain immediately thought of a scene that’s for the sequel to A Case in Sumaru City.
> 
> And someone out there is going- JADE. THE FIRST STORY ISN’T EVEN DONE YET. Look don’t @ me. You don’t know how close to done SC is.
> 
> That being said… This probably wasn’t what you expecting for this mashup, but here have glimpse at a concept for A Mystery in Mikage-cho. This is just concept for a scene. There’s a lot not put down here cause spoilers and subject to change etc etc. also its long wtf calm down me.
> 
> Don’t @ me there’s no love triangle I swear. And Yusuke’s based off his concept designs BECAUSE I PERSONALLY FELT ROBBED ATLUS ABOUT NOT GETTING THAT LONG HAIR.

**After Sumaru City**  
  
  
  
Goro walked around the art exhibit turning his head this way and that looking for Akira. It had taken him a good fifteen minutes to weave his way through the landmine filled conversation with Kurosu and he had half a mind to strangle his boyfriend for leaving him alone with the woman.  
  
She was Akira’s grandmother after all! Why did _he_ have to manage her.  
  
“Well its over now…” he muttered to himself as he stopped by a pillar on the exhibit floor and looked around. “I just have to find Akira so we can resume,” Goro paused as his eyes scanned the far wall, “Resume our… investigation?”  
  
The brunet found himself stunned. Across from him there was a painting, one that clearly looked like Akira. A portrait young man with short and messy black hair, upside down in the frame; his wrist were crossed just over his heart and his fingers hung limp and loose. All over his skin was a creeping black vine with wilted leaves, that grew down from his torso off canvas and seem to be consuming most of his form and coming out of his mouth from just barely parted lips was a white lily. Akira’s body looked to be washed out, intentionally faded, while the black vines and the white lily stood out in contrast.  
  
Goro’s feet carried him form the pillar to the image without thought or concern for the rest of the museum crowd. The painting hung on a wall in a line with several others. The rest were far more abstract in nature. The colors and patterns were all varied, some of the subjects seemed to hold images of people, but they weren’t as defined. They weren’t so clearly someone the artist knew.  
  
Goro leaned down to read the title of the piece, “Innocence of Accusation, Kitagawa, Yusuke… Ah!” He quickly stood up and scanned the wall. Each of the pieces hanging on here were all attributed to Kitagawa. This was the section they were looking for.  
  
Goro stopped next to one painting, studying its pattern. He could see it now, it reminded him of the painting that hung in Kurosu’s home back in Sumaru City. The one that hung under Madarame’s name. A group of museum patrons walking by even commented how ‘quaint’ it was to see the student mimic the master’s work, but that it wasn’t as good.  
  
“Where is Akira,” Goro turned around in place. “Though I suppose it doesn’t matter, I only found the art, not Kitagawa-san.”  
  
He walked back to painting of Akira and stopped, studying it a bit longer. The information card said it was painted last year, but image was so close. Hadn’t it been years since they had contact? Did Kitagawa have an old photo of Akira? He supposed that would make sense…  
  
Goro held his chin in his hands and stared at the painting. It wasn’t like the others. There was a lot of raw emotion in those that he felt conveyed some sort of anger, frustration. The colors were darker, the strokes more aggressive. Every inch of the frame Akira was in seemed slow and soft. The washed out look made him think that that Akira under the vines was breaking or already broken.  
  
Looking at it was hard, in away. It reminded him too much about his last case. Too much about creeping shadows, and psychos in lion mask, and hospital rooms and hallucinations and-  
  
“You’ve been looking at that one for a while,” a young man’s voice spoke up next to Goro. He hadn’t even noticed the other person approach him. To his right side a mesmerizing young man stood, taller than him with a very straight expression. He had a lanky, slender build, and wore a white suit with dark blue shirt underneath. The shirt’s color almost matched the color of his hair, which he kept the bangs swept to the left, and grew down to his shoulders but was kept in a neat braid. His eyes were fixed on the painting of Akira.  
  
“Ah, yes well…” Goro cleared his throat. He didn’t want to admit to a stranger that he knew the subject of the painting. Specially when he was trying to ensure that it didn’t get around to Madarame that Akira was even here. “It stands to me. I guess you could say it, creates a nostalgic feeling, for lack of better words.”  
  
The young man quietly chuckled and closed his eyes, “Nostalgic? Really? This is an image I did not expect to recreate that sensations in others. I must admit I made it purely for myself.”  
  
“Yourself!” Goro exclaimed. He turned to face his new conversation partner, “You’re Kitagawa-san? Madarame’s student?”  
  
“I am,” he turned to face Goro in kind. “And you are?”  
  
“My name is Akechi, Goro. I’m a detective for Tokyo’s Special Investigation Unit.”  
  
“A detective,” Goro watched as Yusuke’s face slightly twisted. It wasn’t unpleasant, but he could see the apprehension building in the artist as he started to turn away.  
  
“Wait, wait, I- That’s just my job,” Goro motioned to the painting, “I’m here to talk to you about this, about Akira.”  
  
“About Akira?” Kitagawa’s expression lit up. “You know Akira?”  
  
“Yes, I do.” The brunet relaxed a little, “I came here looking for you. The advertisements for Madarame’s exhibit mentioned one of his students would be displaying a few pieces as well. And I,” Goro turned back to the painting, “I have to admit I wasn’t expecting it to be like this.”  
  
They both stared at the painting for a moment.  
  
“To be perfectly honest with you, Akechi-san, that makes two of us,” Kitagawa folded his arms.  
  
“Excuse me?”  
  
“…I wanted to paint something for our anniversary. I did not expect it to come out like this. But I suppose in my heart the memories I have are now tainted by unpleasant truths and false hoods I cannot erase.”  
  
“Your… anniversary?” Goro nodded slowly, taking in a deep breath.  
  
“Yes, it would have been three years last month. Even though for two of the years we have been deprived contact… I still think about Akira. He was my first friend. And the first person to captivate me. Though there are many tragic things about him… I wanted to capture what I thought he was. Something beautiful,” Kitagawa unfolded his arms and raised up his right hand to slowly clench his fist, “Being strangled by the unpleasant horrors of the world he lived in. A careful light trying to bloom in the cold shadow of adversity… And to some extent I feel like he did not make it out. Though I cannot say for sure.”  
  
Kitagawa looked down at the floor, “Still I remember, how beautiful it was even if others tell me it was not.”  
  
Goro exhaled. He felt his tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth as he turned back to the painting. It was made just last month.  
  
‘He’s still in love.’ Goro thought to himself. His eyes shifting to the side to look at the artist. ‘He’s still in love… Is Akira? Are they still in love?’  
  
The detective without thinking started to take a step back just as Kitagawa turned back to speak to him.  
  
“I’m sorry, I’ve gotten us off topic, Akechi-san. What was it about Akira you wanted to talk to me about?”  
  
Goro smiled and felt himself blink a few times before he spoke.  
  
“We’re dating.”


	13. Silence on Your Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Original Ask: "Ryugoro, soulmate au, bookshop au ♥"
> 
> Answer: FFFFF- UUUUUH. OH GOD THIS ENDED UP BEING SO LONG. THIS MEME WAS A HORRIBLE IDEA I HAVE NO SELF CONTROL.AHHH AHHHHH. If I keep this up I’m going to have to stat putting shit under cuts…
> 
> That being said here have a Ryugoro oneshot w/ a gender swapped Akechi. With some Shumako on the side.
> 
> *looking hard at this one shot* God I’m going to come back to this at some point and finish it. I can FEEL it.

**Silence on Your Heart**  
  
  
  
Sakamoto considered himself pretty unlucky at love. He had good looks, an excellent track record, a loving mother and a fantastic best friend, but his love life was screwed.For there was nothing written on his heart.  
  
He found what it meant when he was young, when another little boy in his class teased him. They had been playing outside just after it rained and he fell in the mud. The teacher made him remove his muddy shirt before coming back into the building and he had to stand in the atrium shirtless while she fetched a spare from the gym.  
  
One of the other boys turned and pointed at him saying, “Ryuji’s heart is blank! That means no one loves him!”  
  
At the time, Ryuji started to yell at the other boy. Of course he was loved. His mother loved him. He thought the boy was poking fun at him over the fact his father had just left them the year prior. So, he pushed the kid. And his mother was called. He was taken home and she explained to him the boy’s comment wasn’t about her or his father.  
  
Words are written across your heart, the first words your true love speaks. They’re considered sacred. People take great care to keep them covered at all times, a usually easy feat since they appear in the middle of one’s chest. But even in situations like going to the beach, or a public bath house people kept their words hidden.  
  
Hell when he was in his final year of junior high and Akira came over to stay with him for Golden Week while his mom was away the two found out even on adult sites, that they were absolutely not on and he had no idea how that virus got on the computer, words were hidden with excessive amounts of makeup.  
  
They were words for you and your loved one only.  
  
But Sakamoto never had anything written on his heart.  
  
But he didn’t let that slow him down. Even if he had no true love, he still dated plenty of girls… Or at least tried. Some were keen with flirting, maybe even a make out here or there. He was pretty popular around his high school. The track all-star, practically carried the team to nationals their junior year, and by his senior year he’d had more than a few encounters with the opposite sex, but none of them stuck.  
  
There was no reason to stick around after all, he wasn’t the one for them. He wasn’t the one for anyone.  
  
Perhaps that’s why he was so good at track. Because while running he felt like none of that mattered. While running the entire world’s eyes were on him. While running everyone wanted him. He was the star of the show, he received all the praise in the world. His mother was proud, his best friend cheered him on, everyone wanted to be him, everyone loved him.  
  
But in the end, when he crossed the finished line, he knew he always had to face the empty spot on his heart.  
  
“Yo, bro, I need you to come with me to this book store in Jinbocho,” Ryuji leaned against the lockers at the entrance to the school. He crossed his arms and watched Akira slip his cat a few treats to keep him from meowing on the way home. To this day Ryuji didn’t understand how he got through all three years of high school with no one saying a thing about Morgana. But then again, he was dating the student council president. At the time when they started dating in their freshman year, the then student council treasurer, shouted at him not to run in the halls and immediately turned to her and screamed, ‘catch me copper’.  
  
They were a match made in heaven.  
  
“You want to go there?” Akira closed up his bag most of the way and pushed up his glasses. “If you need the latest Ninja Rush manga I’m sure there’s somewhere closer than that.”  
  
“Its not for a manga!” He banged his palm on the locker. “Its for a girl. I saw her on the train yesterday.”  
  
“And you know she’s going there because…?”  
  
“Maybe I asked around?” Ryuji looked away from his friend. But he could feel Akira’s stare prying so finally he looked back and sighed. “Okay maybe I’ve seen her a bunch… And traded routes a few times to see where she was going.”  
  
“Dude.”  
  
“She doesn’t go to our school! Her uniforms some, fancy prep-school!” He pushed off the locker and threw his hands up in the air. “The point is, she goes to Book Town, so we’re going to book town.”  
  
“How do you know you’ll even see her today?”  
  
“She always shows up! Everyday. I need you to wing-man with me on this.”  
  
Akira pulled out his phone and sighed, “Just let me text Makoto and let her know that you’re dragging me out to pick up chicks. Again.”  
  
Ryuji dragged Akira to the subway station and the two hung around until he spotted his mysterious girl. She stepped off the line in her usual brown lapel jacket, buttoned up to the middle of her chest, black skirt and stockings and black heels with her brunette hair tied up in ponytail with a black and white striped bow. The moment the blond saw her he nudged Akira and they made sure they boarded the next train.  
  
The girl always had her head down, her eyes firmly planted on the pages of a book in her hand. In her other hand she carried around a silver attaché case with a black ‘A’ painted on one side.  
  
“Something about her is familiar…” Akira commented as they stepped off in Jinbocho.  
  
“Oh yeah? What makes you say that?” Ryuji scanned the streets trying to make sure he didn’t lose sight of her.  
  
“I just feel like I’ve seen her a lot.”  
  
The two followed the girl down to a book shop way on the end of the street. It didn’t seem to particularly busy. Inside there was actually quite a fair deal of sitting room on the back half of the shop, a few rows of old book near the windows at the front and some carts on wheels parked out front. Sharing the space with the sitting area was a little café bar, being run by a man with glasses, black hair and a beard.  
  
From outside the door the two could hear the man offer a welcome home to the girl, though she only waved back.  
  
Akira reached out and grabbed Ryuji’s shoulder, “We are _not_ hitting on a girl in her _home_.”  
  
“Okay, okay… That’s fair…” Ryuji crossed his arms and looked up at the store’s name. “I’ll just start becoming a regular here at Leblanc!”  
  
“Ryuji… You only read manga.”  
  
“I’ll learn to read other things!!” He screamed at the top of his lungs. A few people walking by on the street turned to state.  
  
Akira sighed, “All this for a girl that’s just going to break up with you in a week…”  
  
Akira might have been right about the fact that Ryuji couldn’t keep a girlfriend. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try. Giving up was not an option. So as promised, on days when he didn’t have track, and school work wasn’t too intense he made his way to Jinbocho and down to Leblanc.  
  
And always the girl was there. Sitting in the back doing homework or reading one of the books from the store’s shelves. At first, he had no idea what to do there. He figured if he just showed up enough eventually they’d strike up a conversation. The first few times were awkward, he had to admit. Most of the books offered at the store were way over his head.  
  
He luckily picked out a few athletic books to skim through, though he could tell the owner really wanted him to buy something if he was going to keep showing up. So, he would order a sandwich, or some black tea. The menu consisted mostly of coffee, but he hated coffee. The girl in the back always seemed to have it however.  
  
Eventually his arrivals were greeted less with impatient stares from the owner and more with solemn acceptance. The man would welcome him. The girl would raise her head and wave before going back to work.  
  
“Do you want your usual?” Sojiro asked him.  
  
“Uh, well-” Ryuji glanced at girl in the back, “What does she always have?”  
  
“You mean her? She always has the Blue Mountain.”  
  
“I’ll take that!” Sojiro eyed him for a moment before fixing him a cup of coffee.  
  
Ryuji continued to watch the girl in the back, “So, your daughter doesn’t help you run this place?”  
  
“Hmn? Akechi’s not my daughter. She rents a room upstairs.” Sojiro slid the cup to him across the counter.  
  
“Oh!” Ryuji couldn’t help but smile. It suddenly seemed like a barrier had been lifted. He paid for his coffee and immediately walked over to where Akechi was sitting. Behind him Sojiro shook his head.  
  
In the few short steps it took him to approach Akechi’s table he’d already rehearsed what he was going to say. ‘Hi! So I see you here all the time, can I sit with you? This Blue Mountain coffee is really good. I’m Sakamoto, Ryuji, nice to meet you!’ He said it to himself over, and over again until he stopped at her table.  
  
Akechi stopped working on her homework and looked up at him. And for some reason Ryuji felt his chest constrict as she smiled and didn’t speak. Like something was burning on his heart. He opened his mouth to introduce himself as he looked down into expectant red eyes. And his mouth opened and closed and opened again.  
  
“Blue coffee is pretty you, huh?” Akechi stared at him shocked for a moment. And Ryuji bit his tongue before speaking again. “I mean it’s pretty good! You have it all the time, so I- tried it. It’s good.” He watched her as she smiled. She still didn’t speak to him but started to lift her hands. “I’m Sakamoto, Ryuji. I’m a third year at Sujin Academy. I know I come around here a lot, but I just wanted to say- uh- say- uh Hello?”  
  
Akechi nodded, but she didn’t open her mouth. Again, she moved her hands in a strange motion and Ryuji tilted his head. She was smiling at him. She seemed receptive. But she wasn’t talking to him. It was making him nervous. Too nervous to stick around.  
  
“Err, I, um, well, sorry for bothering you…” He started to leave and Akechi stood up, a panicked look on her face. She reached out to grab his arm and the resulting tug caused him to turn his coffee mug over and spill all over her table.  
  
“Ah, shi- I’m so sorry!”  
  
Akechi held up her hands, she didn’t seem too annoyed, but she was quickly grabbing towels to dab up the coffee spilled onto her notebook and text. She was shaking her head a bit to herself as she pulled apart papers. Ryuji rushed back over to the counter to grab as many napkins as possible and tried to help her clean them up. The entire time rambling apologies against her continued silence.  
  
When it seemed like the papers were mostly saved he excused himself, rushing away from her table and out the door before she could stop him a second time.  
  
He didn’t go back to Leblanc.  
  
“You’ve been really quiet lately,” Akira poked at the top of Ryuji’s head. He was sitting with his head down against the little table in the vending machine corner. It had been a week since he’d dumped coffee all over Akechi and ran. And the scene kept playing back in his head. “Things not work out  with that girl?”  
  
“She wouldn’t even talk to me. She kept looking at me and smiling. But she said _nothing_. And then I dumped coffee all over her stuff and ran away.”  
  
Akira started to laugh, “Oh wow! The ugliest of break ups before it even began!” He continued to laugh at Ryuji as Makoto walked up to their table. She took a seat next to her boyfriend and sighed.  
  
“What are you two laughing at now?” Makoto sat down and pulled Akira’s bag toward her, so she could pet Morgana. “It had better not be anything against school policy. I can’t keep covering for you, Akira.”  
  
“I’m laughing at Ryuji getting dumped again.”  
  
Makoto frowned, “Aren’t you his best friend? Shouldn’t you be more sympathetic to his problems. I mean… A life alone is no laughing matter.”  
  
“Its fine, Makoto.” He sighed. “After what happened. Maybe I deserve it. I’m sure that girl Akechi would probably tell me I do.”  
  
“Akechi?” Makoto stopped playing with the cat. “Akechi who?”  
  
“I don’t know… She lives in Jinbocho, above a book store.”  
  
“Akechi, Kumiko!” Makoto leaned closer to him. “You’re the one that dumped coffee all over her case notes!”  
  
“What?” Ryuji lifted his head. “You know about that!”  
  
“Know about it! Sis was upset for days! Akechi-chan works for her. She’s a junior detective.”  
  
“That’s why I know her!” Akira clapped his hands together, “She’s always on TV!” He paused for a minute, “Wait, she never talks in her interviews.”  
  
“She can’t talk. She’s mute. She signs everything.”  
  
“WHAT!” Ryuji leaned forward, “She can’t talk!” He stared at Makoto his mouth hanging open. He thought about the way she smiled at him, she kept moving her hands every time after he spoke. It was a fluid motion, like she was conveying something. “She was talking to me… She was talking to me!!”  
  
“Yes she was!” Makoto crossed her arms. “I’ll have you know she was very upset with what you did. My sister and myself included!”  
  
“Look I’m sorry about the case notes, but shouldn’t you all have back-ups of important info?”  
  
“We’re not mad at you about that!” Makoto pointed at him, “Blue coffee is pretty you, huh! And you ran away!”  
  
Akira and Ryuji stared at Makoto in confusion.  
  
“She hasn’t come to work or gone to school in a week! Idiot! GO fix it! Go fix it right now!” Makoto got up and pulled him out of his seat.  
  
“Wait-by why- why do you know- why do you know that?”  
  
“Akechi-chan is practically family! Of course I know what’s on her heart! And if you don’t run your track-star butt over to Leblanc and set this straight I’m going to make sure the rest of your senior year is hell!”  
  
Makoto shoved Ryuji forward and pointed off in the distance.  
  
He put a hand over his chest and stared at her before some vague sense of urgency and realization sunk in. How was a loud mouth like him supposed to know his true love would never be able to utter a word? He turned and started running through the halls of the school toward the exit.  
  
He really was unlucky at love, wasn’t he?


	14. A Beautiful Match

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Original Ask: "for the trope mash-up: Akechi/Haru, blind date and accidentally saving the day (sending this is a mistake and I know it but I still send it anyway >> you don't have to do it if you don't want to)"
> 
> Answer: OKAY FIRST OF ALL HOW DARE YOU IMPLY THAT I WOULD NOT DO THIS AND SECOND OF ALL HOW DAAAAAAAAARE YOU MAKE ME WRITE SO MUCH.
> 
> YOU THINK I WONT DO AKEHARU. YOU THINK I WONT HAVE IT. WITH A SIDE OF YANDERE PEGO.

**A Beautiful Match** __  
  
  
  
Tokyo is a beautiful city at night. The way the lights from the towers sparkle in yellow and red against the white lights of the star lit sky. Of course the stars are hard to see when looking up at them from below the city’s every present neon and flashing signs and traffic signals.  
  
But up here, above the skyline, free falling down into that city there was only beauty.  
  
Beauty of the lights reflected back upon the blade of her axe, what parts of it weren’t covered in the gushing black liquor spilling out of shadow who’s head she’d just lopped of. Tumbling head over heals backwards into the city she saw the stars, the yellow lights, the glint against her axe, the cascade of black fluid, and the dissolving body of the shadow and Noir thought to herself.  
  
It’s all so beautiful.  
  
Apparently Crow thought so too, as her body was suddenly jerked from its free fall and wrapped up in Robin Hood’s white arms. The heroic persona had effortlessly jumped up from the closest high point to grab her body and fall back down to the rooftops of Tokyo where the other persona user waited, clapping.  
  
“And excellent show, Noir.” He stopped clapping and walked to the building’s edge as she eased herself down onto the rooftop. “Breath taking as always. The savage way you rip through your enemies… Makes me wonder how you handle your day to day problems.”  
  
“With the same intensity, I assure you.” She walked over to join him and they both leaned forward to scan the city streets. “You took care of the Joka?”  
  
“Yes, Loki was able to dispel the chains of control around that poor infected man. But alas, he like all the rest couldn’t tell me about how he became infected.” Crow put one foot up on the ledge and let his elbow rest on it, so he could carry the weight of his chin against his knuckles. “This is spreading faster and getting worse.”  
  
“I’ve noticed. We find at least eight Shadows a week now. And even the police are picking up ones we don’t and that’s-”  
  
“Unacceptable. The police force is not quipped to handle these monsters. The number of casualties I hear about from my superiors…” Crow continued to watch the streets below. Noir didn’t bother to point out he’d let slip that he was connected to law enforcement.  
  
She really didn’t know anything about him, or he about her. Their first encounter had been chance, and they were shocked to find another persona user. She was all for getting to know her new team mate outside of this ‘work’ but for some reason Crow insisted they should keep their identities to themselves.  
  
“Well, it’s almost dawn,” Noir motioned toward the evaporating stars. “We could make one more circuit or call it a night.”  
  
“I think it’s best to retire,” Crow finally stood up, “I have, something important to take care of tomorrow afternoon, meaning my entire morning has to be dedicated to work.”  
  
“Oh! Well then we’d better go, I actually have an obligation tomorrow as well.” Crow smiled at her and held out his hand, she graciously offered her’s for him to take and kiss her knuckles.  
  
“Then until tomorrow Noir, stay safe!” Crow let go of her hand and took a few steps back until he dropped off the roof. He never feared falling. Loki or Robin would always catch him.  
  
“Stay safe,” she sighed at the open air before returning home.  
  
Noir really did have an obligation to take care of that afternoon, but she doubted it was as important as Crow’s. Over the past few months of their teaming up to fight off Shadows as they spread throughout the city she’d picked up a few things about him. He had some connections to law enforcement, was more than likely even a part of it despite his young age- but often spoke about ‘his job’ and about how the skills he had developed there he found useful in interviewing recovering Joka victims and establishing a pattern of Shadow attacks. He was smart, he also seemed to work a lot.  
  
Back when nights were slow she could catch him asleep on his feet.  
  
Whatever he did during the day time, it kept him busy, and she couldn’t deny that it seemed like the busier they were at night the more work he seemed to mention took place during the day.  
  
She often wondered if he had figured out what her life was like?  
  
She used to talk about it, until it dawned on her how boring it must sound in comparison. Complaining about university, laughing about having to ditch a ‘girls’ night out’ for patrol, lamenting that her father was trying to find a new fiancé for her.  
  
Her pervious one had succumb to the Joka infection and nearly tried to kill her. Not that she minded, he was an asshole anyway. She didn’t really enjoy the idea of an arranged marriage. She wanted to fall in love naturally. Pick the man that would stick by her side forever, help her manage the company and fortune she was going to handle. He needed to be smart, a hard work dedicated.  
  
“It would be nice if I could marry Crow,” Haru Okumura looked out the window of her penthouse. Though she wasn’t physically in the room she could see her Persona, My Lady staring back at her over her shoulder. “Maybe I should try to find out who he is. Do you think I could trick father into arranging a date with him?”  
  
“I think it would be better to just ask him. Why hide away your real feelings?”  
  
“Crow insist that we keep things professional… But if his future fiancé just happens to also be the beautiful Noir that he admires for her deadly skills- then, who are we to say no?” Haru turned back around to an empty room. The clock on the wall told her it was almost noon, which mean she needed to head down to the garage to meet her father for her first date with her new fiancé.  
  
Though this was their first-time meeting, Haru couldn’t say it was really a blind date. She knew who her fiancé was. She’d seen him on TV several times before. Shido Goro, he was a residential celebrity detective. He worked for Tokyo SIU and his father was currently running for Prime Minister. They may have even crossed paths before at special events. After all her father was a very generous campaign contributor to Shido’s efforts.  
  
She wasn’t sure what strings her father pulled to set them up, or how much money he took from the company that should be going to the workers to pay for this arrangement, but she hated it. Why did he want to set her up with another politician’s son? Because the last one went so great.  
  
Their date was set up in the restaurant of a fancy hotel. Haru arrived and was escorted to a table where Goro was already waiting. As soon as she approached the young man stood up and bowed his head to her. “Ah Okumura-san, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard many wonderful things about you from your father.”  
  
Haru kept her hands folded in front of her as he spoke. From this angle the way he bowed his head…  
  
“It’s nice to met you, Shido-san. Shall we sit?”  
  
The two took their seats and Haru picked up her menu.  
  
“Have you eaten her before?” Goro asked her.  
  
“Once or twice but I don’t really remember…”  
  
“I could make a few suggestions then. The-”  
  
“I can order for myself,” she cut him off, but quickly looked up at his semi-surprised face with a gentle smile. “I just mean, I want the full chance to look the menu over before you start giving me ideas! I want my opinion untainted.”  
  
“I see,” Goro nodded to her. “I guess that makes sense. As the daughter of a restaurant tycoon I suppose it’s fair to let you judge your meals on your own merits.”  
  
“Thank you.” Haru continued to smile as she raised her menu to hide her face. She twisted her lips. No, she absolutely did not want anything picked for her. She continued to eye the menu until she settled on a meal: curry and some coffee. Once their orders were taken all there was left to do was talk…  
  
“So…” Haru cleared her throat. In turn Goro did the same. “Do you have any hobbies? I like gardening.”  
  
“I’m afraid my busy life style doesn’t afford me a chance for many. Between my work, and my father’s campaign, school, and a new night job I’ve picked up I barely have time for cycling anymore.”  
  
“Oh.” Haru took a deep breath. A work-oholic like her father. Wonderful.  
  
“But gardening sounds interesting,” Goro interrupted the silence. “I tried to keep a house plant once… I uh, I failed at that.” Haru snorted, but quickly put her hand over her mouth. Goro in turn laughed. “No, its fine. I should have known better. I’m hardly home. If the poor thing had been an animal it would have turned on me.”  
  
“Well, plants, while not animals, do appreciate your care and attention. I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”  
  
“I’m sorry for the fern’s unfortunate luck to be purchased by me.”  
  
Their waiter returned with their meals and they started to eat. Though a few bites and sips into her meal Haru frowned. “Oh, I forgot the coffee here is… Not great.”  
  
Goro’s attention perked up. “You’re a coffee connoisseur?”  
  
“Oh, just… A little bit. I forgot however, the brand here, while expensive, is made rather poorly. They water it down to stretch the servings.”  
  
Goro looked at her plate and pushed his aside, “I know a place that serves the best coffee and curry in Tokyo, if you’re interested in going.”  
  
“Right now?” Haru set down her cup, “But we just started eating?”  
  
“If you don’t like it, why should we finish it?” Goro flagged down their waiter and insisted he wanted to pay for the bill right away. As soon as their transaction was over the politicians son was urging Haru to follow him out of the restaurant.  
  
They took her car, since Goro had apparently ridden the subway to get to their date, over the Yogen-Jaya. Haru wasn’t sure at first about the sleepy little district, but Goro seemed to know exactly where they were going. He led her into a quite coffee shop where a lone barista waited by the bar reading a book in a completely empty store.  
  
“Amamiya-kun!” Goro waved to the young man as he opened the door. “Slow day?”  
  
“As always,” he stood up form his seat and paused when he saw Haru. “Who’s this?”  
  
“Oh this is Okumura, Haru! We’re on a date, actually. I wanted to bring her here to experience the best coffee in town.”  
  
“Oh.” Amamiya turned to her and gave her a cautious smile. “Well if Goro-kun has brought you I better live up to his expectations.”  
  
The two took a seat and gave their orders for coffee and two plates of curry. The barista went to work while Haru leaned back in her seat and took in the atmosphere.  
  
“This place is nice. It’s so quiet.”  
  
“Its kind of my secret. Don’t go sharing it with everyone, alright?”  
  
Once their food was served, Haru was amazed by just how right Goro was. The coffee was excellent, but the curry was just as good. This was far superior to what she had just had at their previous restaurant. Actually, the homey atmosphere and comforting food opened her up to talking more. She spoke to Goro about how she just interested in gardening because she liked plants, but she wanted a restaurant chain of her own. One more like what they were experiencing now.  
  
Goro in turn talked to her more about his own wishes. He worked as a detective because he had no interest in holding office. He wanted to work for the people on a more direct and personal level. He knew there was good to be done form office, however he didn’t see it currently. A fact they could both agree on, the people currently running the business and political world left unsavory taste in their mouths.  
  
Their own fathers included.  
  
The two talked for so long they didn’t even notice the sun had gone down, and evening had settled in. They also hadn’t noticed their barista watching them the entire time with a slight growing annoyance.  
  
It wasn’t until the old phone in the shop rang that either of them became aware that they had been sitting in the store for hours. Amamiya picked up the line and began speaking very loudly to the owner that he knew they were still open but the last customers hadn’t left yet.  
  
Haru watched him; the annoyance in his tone seemed to prick at her skin.  
  
“Ah! I’m so sorry, Amamiya-kun! I didn’t mean to hold you up. You could have thrown us out you know?”  
  
“I was tempted to,” the barista leaned back against the counter with his arms crossed.  
  
Goro laughed at his comment but Haru frowned. The boy was looking at her, something was wrong.  
  
“I’ll pay extra, for the trouble, how is that?” Goro took out his wallet and set his money down on the counter. It seemed to make the barista a little less tense.  
  
“Will you be back at your usual time then?”  
  
“Well, that depends, Haru-san, do you wish to come with me?” Haru didn’t answer him, instead she looked at Amamiya. He reached up to rub his forehead grimacing. “Haru?”  
  
“I don’t think you’re friend wants me to come.”  
  
“Huh?” Goro turned back to the other boy, “What are you talking about?”  
  
“T-that’s not-“ the two watched as Amamiya pulled off his glassed and rubbed his palm over his eyes. “That’s not it- I just- wasn’t expecting you to have a girlfriend.”  
  
“I’m not his girlfriend,” Haru continued to watch him, the more and more they continued to speak the more she felt that prickling feeling traveling up her skin. “We’re engaged.”  
  
Amamiya didn’t say anything. Instead both his hands went up over his eyes and he grit his teeth together.  
  
“Amamiya-kun?” Goro reached out to touch his shoulder. “…Ren?”  
  
The barista’s head snapped up to reveal his face had turned chalk white. A crooked smile was painted on his, and his features were frozen ins stone as if it had become a mask.  
  
“A Joka infection!” My Lady called out in Haru’s head.  
  
In turn the girl turned to her date, “Goro! RUN!”  
  
Strangely the detective did the same to her, as he suddenly shoved barista over the top of the bar, “Haru! Get out of here!”  
  
They paused and looked at each other expecting the other to run, but neither did. Suddenly from behind the bar where Amamiya fell a wave of black and red sludge started to shoot upward. It splattered over the ceiling, the counter top and the walls. Goro turned to Haru and grabbed her hand running from the door.  
  
As the two burst out of the little café, the lights inside flickered out. But inside a black mass could be seen moving around, swelling to fill up every inch of the store until a wall of black with several white mask were pressed against the windows.  
  
Goro continued to hold onto Haru’s hand as they both backed up across the street.  
  
“Haru!” He turned to her. “Run! Get back to your care and get out of-”  
  
“-No! You run!”  
  
“Haru! I’m- I’m an officer of the law! It’s my job to handle this!”  
  
“Absolutely not! Do you know how many cops these things have killed!” As she screamed the glass broke and the shadow inside came lashing out with several hands reaching for them. Goro shoved Haru to the side and was swept up by the shadow’s attack. The creature spiraled up into the sky on bent red and black wings. Haru picked herself up watching in horror as the creature started to climb up into he sky.  
  
“My Lady!” She extended her hand and a burst of blue flame took shape before her. It molded itself into an axe that she took hold of, and the flames traveled up her arm transforming her appearance back int Noir. Her black mask firmly on her face as she raised her weapon and called on her persona. “My Lady! Shoot that thing out of the sky!”  
  
Behind her the elegant figure of her persona appeared and raised her dress to let loose a torrent of gun shots at the shadow. It let out a shriek and flinched, dropping Goro.  
  
“Quick! We have to catch him-” Noir was cut off as she was tackled form the side. The possessed barista had come shambling out of the bar and was now trying to wrap his hands around her throat. “A-Amamiya! You have to fi-fight it! Don’t give into the infection!” Her please were met with unintelligent snarls.  
  
Overhead Noir could see Goro falling fast toward the ground. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to force the possessed boy off. The next time she opened her eyes she saw Goro falling in a blaze of blue fire before he was caught in the air by a white figure.  
  
Noir raised her foot and kicked the barista off just as Robin Hood landed next to her and deposited Crow back on the ground.  
  
“Noir!” he grabbed her shoulder.  
  
“Crow! You’re- you’re-!”  
  
“I’ll handle the infection! Take down that flying menace!” He pointed back up at the sky. Overhead the Shadow had recovered from the attack and was diving back down at them.  
  
“Right! And then after- we’re talking!” She pointed at him as she ran forward, calling for My Lady to back her up. She raised her axe to meet the diving persona head on, cleaving her weapon into one of its many white mask.  
  
As it shattered and she pulled the monster down to the ground her persona came to her side with a wave of her fan took out another mask on the black figure a psiodyne spell. The shadow recoiled and slammed against another store front destroying it.  
  
“Well,” My Lady used the pause in the fight to being speaking freely. “It would seem your wishes have been granted.”  
  
Noir turned head to the side to watch Crow summon Loki, and the black and white persona began slashing away at chains only it could see wrapped around Ren’s body, pulling his movements like a puppet.  
  
Her attention was called back to the destroyed store front as the shadow pulled itself up out of the rubble. Its body was more defined now, with long black wings and legs held up on bladed heels. It had long arms with clawed hands to match and a burning red smile.  
  
Haru took a deep breath and smiled, “A good fight. A good partner. And a good fiancé.” She raised her axe again and swing for the shadow’s head. “I couldn’t ask for more!”

**Author's Note:**

> Want to send me a Writing prompt?
> 
> Send them to my [tumblr](https://adraggynamedjade.tumblr.com/)  
> 


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